Overnight LG took the wraps of its upcoming flagship, the G3, at a launch event held in six cities around the globe. The G3 is an Android 4.4 KitKat smartphone clad in brushed-hairline metal, similar to that of the HTC One (M8).

The G3 stands as tall as the One at 146mm, but it manages to pack a larger 5.5-inch, 2560x1440 resolution screen into the same form factor. This arms the smartphone with an unsurpassed 534 pixel-per-inch (ppi) density, which dwarfs even the Samsung Galaxy S5's 432 (ppi).

Inside is a Snapdragon 801 chipset, with a quad-core 2.5 CPU, 2GB or 3GB of RAM (depending on the market), a 4G LTE modem and 16GB/32GB of internal memory. The removable rear case grants access to an expandable microSD memory card and a 3000 milliamp-hour battery.

Connectivity is well catered to with support for dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, a SlimPort and GPS.

The rear camera captures photos at 13 megapixels and videos at UHD resolution. LG has enhanced its imaging capabilities with the inclusion of laser autofocus technology, which measures the distance of a photo's subject for reportedly better photos. A secondary 2.1 megapixel front facing camera can be used for video calls.

Chief executive of LG's mobile company, Dr Jong-seok Park, said the LG G3 was designed to be simple from the ground up.

"The smartest innovation in a fast evolving smartphone market is creating harmony between advanced technology and a simplified user experience. LG G3 is the result of our effort to actualise that idea into a tangible product. And we are extremely pleased with the result."